Fallout: Desolation
by Biyote
Summary: A group of Vault Dwellers leave their Vault amidst chaos, and encounter a duo of veteran Wastelanders. I recommend reading my other story, Fallout: Operation Louisiana before reading Fallout: Desolation. It will help you to better understand certain aspects and characters of this series.
1. chapter 1

Fallout: Desolation

Episode One - The First Day

As Michael slowly awoke on the cold metal floor of the Vault, his head throbbed in pain.

"Wh-what happened?"

Michael's vision was somewhat blurred, from being hit in the head, but he could make out some of the things that were happening. There were other Vault Dwellers running around, yelling. The Vault's alarms were blaring as well.

A bright object moved around in the corner of Michael's eye. He turned his head to see the object, and his vision began to clear up. The bright object was a man on fire. More specifically, it was the Overseer. Overseer Hale had been long contested, but no one expected anyone to do anything to him.

However, it was Hale and he was cooking to a crisp as he ran through the Vault screaming.

Michael slowly stood up, as his head still held a dull pain. He caught someone right as they ran by.

"Hey! Jim, what the hell's going on?" Michael asked.

Jim responded, "Fuck, man. You must've gotten hit harder than we thought. Come with me, I'm going to meet Sarah. We're gonna get the hell outta here."

"Okay, lead the way." Michael responded.

Jim led Michael to a bunk room where they saw Sarah shoving items into several backpacks.

"Shit, you're back. Hey, Mike." Sarah said.

"Sarah, Mike's coming with us." Jim told Sarah.

She was somewhat confused.

"What? We've already agreed to take Chris with us. We won't have enough supplies for the four of us." Sarah replied, poorly attempting to hide her slight anger.

"More people increases our chance of survival, Sarah." Jim replied.

The thought hadn't yet crossed her mind.

Sarah sighed heavily. "Fine."

She went back to burgling the other Dwellers' items. As Jim walked over to Sarah, he grabbed a backpack and tossed it to Michael.

"Load your stuff. We're outta here in ten minutes." Jim said.

Michael walked over to his small area of the bunk rooms and began packing up.

"Where's Chris at?" Sarah asked Jim.

"He's over in the second bunk room, packing up. He said he'd meet us at the Vault door."

"Got it."

Michael shoved the few things he held onto inside the backpack, mostly mementos of a childhood long gone, and walked over to Jim and Sarah.

"I'm ready when you guys are."

"Hold on…" Jim said as he hurriedly pushed his belongings into the worn backpack. "Alright! I'm ready."

"I am too. Let's go." Sarah said with a breath of relief.

Michael, Sarah and Jim rushed towards the Vault's entrance. As they ran through the Vault, they passed people practically skinning each other, shredding them for what little sustenance they could scrounge, as if overnight, any and all traces of their humanity had dissipated.

The food supply in the commissary had begun to dwindle in these last few months, and had recently run out nearly entirely. Sarah had stolen the last small amount of food for her and her accomplices' lives on the outside of the Vault. However, this meant that the Dwellers in the Vault had resorted to cannibalism to survive.

As they were nearing the entrance of the Vault, they passed former Overseer Hale's charred corpse. Michael could faintly hear the crackles of the embers left on Hale's cooked body.

"Fuck, that's gross." Michael thought.

The trio ran through the corridors of the Vault, passing screaming Dwellers, fighting with each other, hoping to survive. As they arrived at the Vault's entrance, they encountered Chris, who was holding a Vault Security Officer at gunpoint.

"Stay back!" Chris yelled as the Security Officer inched forward.

"Mr. Martinson, don't do something you'll regret." The Security Officer said nervously.

"Shut up—" Chris stopped speaking when he saw the trio that had arrived.

"Finally. You're here." Chris said to the trio.

"Let's get out of here—" Chris went silent when his finger slipped.

And he heard the sound of the gunshot. His finger had slipped on the trigger, and Chris had shot the Security Officer in the neck.

The Officer fell to the ground clutching his neck. He made gurgling sounds as blood seeped through the cracks between his fingers. Chris was visibly shaken.

"Uh… Le-let's go." Chris said as he holstered the handgun.

Jim walked to the control panel and hit several buttons, which prompted the Vault door to open. As the giant steel door slowly creaked open, Chris spoke up.

"I… I-I don't know if I can do this, you guys."

"What? What do you mean 'You don't know if you can do this'?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, Chris. You just shot a guy. You really think they'll be keen on letting you stick around? Best case scenario: you leave with us. Worst case: they kill and eat you." Jim said ominously.

Chris was worried. He could stay in the Vault and risk death, or he could go out into the Wasteland and risk death.

Chris didn't object after that, and followed the trio ahead of him out of the Vault. As they stepped out into the true world for the first time, they were greeted by a dead world. The trees were nearly gone, most had disintegrated in the initial blasts. The trees that survived were mere shells of their former selves. In a world that barely provided, they were among the first to go.

The four Dwellers walked down the small hill that lead to the Vault door. As they reached the bottom, they were finally in the midst of true carnage. Husks of cars strewn across the area close to the Vault, houses which had been almost completely obliterated by the raging atomic fire. This wasn't the world that they had heard existed many decades ago.

The sun was hot as they traveled. Wearing only Vault suits and backpacks, they had little protection against the harsh elements. And, of course, it was hotter than Hell outside. This was it. They'd left the safety of the Vault. The rest was up to them.

Written by Cherry Coyote

Characters, Locations and many Ideas are original, but inspiration is drawn from the canon Fallout games.


	2. Episode Two - Cold as Steel, Part One

Fallout: Desolation

Episode Two - Cold as Steel, Part One

The four had walked for miles, with no sign of recent human activity anywhere. As they trekked across the Wasteland, they passed dead trees and remnants of small neighborhoods and towns.

As they entered a small town, the four noticed most of the houses in the neighborhood were still mostly intact.

"Anyone want to check the houses?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, sure." Chris replied.

The four stopped and dispersed to different houses. They picked through the dwellings and found mostly trash, except for Michael.

As Michael entered the house he chose, he heard footsteps upstairs. He looked up to the ceiling, where he saw pieces of it crumbling off.

He then heard a voice say something quietly from above. Michael looked over to the stairs and briefly thought about going up.

But he then turned back to the door to go get the others. As he reached to push open the half-destroyed door, he heard heavy footsteps on the stairs behind him.

"I wouldn't walk outside." A voice said.

As Michael tried to turn to look at the voice, it stopped him.

"Don't move."

Michael heard the hammer of a gun cocking behind him. The person behind him walked down the last few steps. And then he heard another voice.

"What's going on down here?"

"I heard this Vault dweller walk in."

"Let him go. You really think he's a threat?"

"Well… I mean… Come on, Alice."

"Come on, Scorch. Just let him leave."

The man, Scorch, sighed. "Fine." He lowered the gun and uncocked the hammer.

"Can I turn around now?" Michael asked.

"Of course." The woman, Alice, replied.

"Finally." Michael relaxed and turned. "I'm, uh, Mike."

"I'm Alice. And this scoundrel is my compadre, Scorch." Alice said as she extended her hand.

Michael shook it, while Scorch looked unhappy.

"So, Dweller, you just get out of the Vault?" Alice asked.

Michael replied, "Yeah, my partners and I are all out here."

"Hmm. Where are they?" Scorch asked suspiciously.

"They're… around." Michael replied, noticing a hint of something suspicious in Scorch's tone.

"Right. How many of you are there?" Scorch asked again.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm just trying to look out for the safety of Alice and I. Can't have us hanging out with a bunch of maniacs, now can we?"

"I… guess not."

Alice lightly slapped Scorch's arm with the back of her hand. He looked at her, and she gave him a frown.

"Right, uh, how about we head outside." Scorch said, acting less strange.

"Okay." Michael replied.

He backed out the door, not breaking eyesight of the two Wastelanders, seeing how suspicious they were acting.

Alice turned to talk to Scorch before they walked out after Michael. She was quiet, so as not to alert Michael.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What?"

"You're acting all suspicious. He'll think something's up."

"Alice, I'm just being cautious for our safety."

Alice looked at him blankly for a few moments.

"Do you want a repeat of Washington?" He asked.

She kicked around that sentence in her head for a few moments as she looked down.

"No." She finally responded.

"Good." Scorch said as he looked out the door to see Michael standing in the middle of the street.

The two Wastelanders walked outside. As they reached Michael, he called for the rest of his friends.

Jim and Sarah walked outside of the houses they were searching, followed shortly by Chris. The three of them saw Scorch and Alice behind Michael and thought the two of them were raiders.

Chris drew his handgun and held it at them.

"Back up!"

Michael put his hands up to fend off Chris.

"Hold on! They're friendly!" Michael yelled, though he didn't entirely believe that statement himself.

Alice was worried someone would get shot. She didn't know Michael very well, seeing as how her and Scorch had just met him, and she certainly didn't know any of these three.

In a rash decision, Scorch held up his assault rifle.

"Come on, man. Put the gun down, or you won't like how this ends." Scorch said, trying to act intimidating.

"What the fuck, Scorch?" Alice said as she looked at Scorch.

"Are you trying to get us shot?"

"Relax, I'm not gonna shoot anyone—"

Chris fired his gun in a hasty decision.

Michael heard a male scream come from behind him. He knew who is was, seeing as how there was only one man behind him. He turned to see Scorch dropping to the ground. His finger slipped on the trigger and fired several rounds from the assault rifle into the air.

"Fuck!" He screamed.

Scorch clutched his arm in pain as Michael and Alice dropped to the ground to help him.

"Shit, wh-what do we do?" Michael asked worriedly.

"Fuck. Okay, hold on, Scorch. Move."

That move was directed at Michael. He slid out of Alice's path as she stood up and walked to the other side of Scorch. He'd been shot in the left arm.

"Okay, buddy… hold on. I'm gonna have to move you a little." Alice said sweetly as she lightly gripped his arm.

"Fuck. Fuck. Okay." Scorch responded as he breathed sharply through his teeth.

Michael looked back to see the Jim and Sarah running towards them. Shockingly, Chris hung back. Michael waved them off and shook his head with a silent "no." Jim and Sarah slowed to a stop and then watched from a distance.

Alice lifted his arm up a little to look at the other side of it.

"That's good. It was a clean shot through." She said, relieved.

"Fuck. Thank fuck." Scorch said.

Alice untied the flannel from around her waist and ripped a sleeve off.

"Sorry, flannel. You got me through hell, but it's time to help Scorch." She said as she wrapped the sleeve around Scorch's arm. She tied the sleeve off tightly.

"That should help absorb most of the blood, but we need to go back to Hadersville." Alice said.

"What's Hadersville?" Michael asked.

"A town… not too far from here. We've been staying there recently. Go tell your friends what's happening." Alice said.

As Michael went to stand up, Alice grabbed his arm.

"I wouldn't count on your friend with the itchy trigger-finger sticking around for long."

"Yeah. I know." He replied.

Michael walked over to his friends to tell them the plan. It would be good to get to Hadersville. It would be the first pocket of civilization they'd seen yet, at least.

Written by Cherry Coyote

Characters, Locations and many Ideas are original, but inspiration is drawn from the canon Fallout games.


	3. Episode Three - Cold as Steel, Part Two

Fallout: Desolation

Episode Three - Cold as Steel, Part Two

As the newly-formed group came upon Hadersville, they walked to the gate and pushed it open.

"I'll take Scorch in to the doctor. You guys stay busy." Alice said as she walked with Scorch over to the makeshift clinic.

"Fuck. I gotta sit down." Jim huffed as he walked over to the side of the main pathway through the town and sat down.

"I second that." Sarah said as she went and sat down next to him.

They began to chat, and took their focus away from Michael and Chris. Michael looked over to Chris, who had begun to walk away.

Michael walked towards Chris to confront him, but was cut off as a spectacle rolled into Hadersville.

A group of men in metal suits of armor walked through the gates they had pushed open. Their clunky suits kicked dust up as they thundered to the center of town.

They carried strange weapons with them which emitted a dull whirring sound, as if they were charging. The suits the men wore were strange. Michael, being a Vault dweller, had never seen anything like this.

But he did know trouble when it was imminent. He didn't know the people underneath those steel behemoths, or their intentions, but he knew nothing good could come from this.

"Attention, settlers of the settlement known as 'Hadersville'. This settlement and the area surrounding it is now under the protection and complete control of the Brotherhood of Steel."

As the man spoke, Michael's attention was drawn to another man, who wore jet black armor. There was a dark red substance on the left arm of the metal suit. It looked as though they were tally marks, recording something. The torso of the suit was the worst. It had deep gashes and claw marks running up and down it. Michael had never heard of these people before, but from this one example, he instantly knew these people weren't to be taken lightly.

"Do not resist. We are here solely for your protection. Any attempt to resist will be met with necessary force."

A settler stepped forward and spoke up. "So you'll kill us we don't surrender?"

"Not so much surrender… rather, let someone else take control of your lives." The speaking man, presumably the leader, replied.

"And what if we don't want you or your violent ways guiding us and our kids?"

"If you don't comply… you'll be removed from the situation entirely."

The leader, outfitted in light gray, grabbed the sidearm attached to his leg and aimed it at the man. Within seconds of grabbing the weapon and aiming it, he'd already fired it, as if he needed no time to line up a perfect shot.

Within minutes of resisting, the settler was dead. The flesh on his face had been burned off. The rest of the settlers were mostly quiet, but a few were whispering amongst themselves. After all, this man they all knew had been cruelly wiped from existence within minutes.

"Now, unless anyone else feels the need to oppose the Brotherhood of Steel controlling this settlement, we'll set up our outpost here and be on our way shortly."

Michael walked back to Jim and Sarah.

"What the hell was that?" Jim asked.

"I… Fuck. I don't know."

Sarah asked, "You were closer. What happened to the guy that got shot?"

"He… He, uh… The flesh on his… face burned off."

"Oh, shit!" Jim yelled quietly, showing his disgust.

"Are Scorch and Alice still in the clinic? Because I think we need to go. This place could become volatile soon." Michael said.

"I don't know, Mike. It's getting really late. It's almost sundown, and… I don't know if we'll see another town, or really anywhere we can bed down for the night and be safe, for… days, maybe." Sarah replied.

"Yeah. I know. It's just… these guys don't seem… normal. Like how they're not being completely clear on why they need this town? How it's now 'under their protection'? Like they should be honored they chose Hadersville." Michael stated.

"I saw something on the guy in black's arm. What was that?" Jim asked.

"I don't know. Maybe kills, or how many settlements they've commandeered?" Michael responded.

"We'll stay here tonight, Mike, and leave in the morning. That sound good? It'll give Scorch some time to rest too. Hell, it'll give us all time to rest." Jim said.

"Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. Look, I'm gonna go check on Alice and Scorch."

Jim nodded.

Michael walked into the clinic where he saw Alice sitting in a chair, waiting. He went over and sat down next to her.

"So… you hear what happened outside?" He asked.

"What? Something happened?"

"Yeah. Bunch of guys in metal armor cane into town, started yelling about how Hadersville was now under their control and was being protected by them."

"That sounds like… Oh, what were they called?"

"They called themselves the 'Brotherhood of Steel'." Michael responded.

"Oh, fuck. Those douchebags. Those guys kick up trouble whenever they show up."

"What? Are they violent?" Michael asked.

"Violent? That's the fucking understatement of the century, Michael." Alice replied.

Michael didn't show it much, but that sentence worried him. He now feared for the safety of not only himself, but his friends outside, Alice and Scorch, and the rest of the settlers in Hadersville.

"You know, there was one really intimidating one. His armor was, like, jet black, and he had tally marks on his arm. It could've been paint, or maybe… blood." Michael said.

"Jet-black armor… Red tally marks…"

Alice scratched at her lip as she thought about this. Then she realized it: her and Scorch had seen the man Michael described along their travels. It had happened several states over.

"Oh, damn. I've seen him before."

"Who is he?" Michael asked.

"I don't know his name. But… Scorch and I had a saw him a few states over not too long ago."

Written by Cherry Coyote

Characters, Locations and many Ideas are original, but inspiration is drawn from the canon Fallout games.


	4. Episode Four - The Shadow of Man

Fallout: Desolation

Episode Four - The Shadow of Man

[Washington State, three months ago.]

Scorch, Alice and her girlfriend had come a long way from Louisiana. They'd trekked across nearly the entire United States. They'd seen many sights along the way. Monuments from the past, now crumbling away as a forgotten relic of a dead world.

"You ever wonder what it was like? Before the war, I mean." Scorch asked.

"Sometimes. Probably a hell of a lot easier to survive than today." Alice replied.

Alice's girlfriend, Clarissa, spoke up.

"Hey, Scorch?"

"Yeah?"

"How soon do you think we'll reach Seattle?"

"Uh… Maybe a couple of days. Hopefully."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem."

The trio's feet ached, as they had walked for hours since they last rested.

"Okay. Everyone stop. We're gonna sit down for a minute." Scorch said exhaustedly as he nearly collapsed to the ground. "Shit."

Going from kneeling to sitting down entirely, the other two members of the group joined Scorch in sitting.

"Man. When do think we'll find another town?" Clarissa asked.

"I don't know. I just want a cold Nuka-Cola, a good meal and a comfortable bed. And the sooner we get that, the happier I'll be." Scorch responded.

Alice looked around their surroundings as Scorch and Clarissa continued talking.

"Hey. Hey, guys. You see that?" Alice asked.

"What?" Scorch asked.

"That." Alice pointed to a black structure almost a mile West of them.

"What the fuck is that?" Clarissa asked.

It was nearing sundown, and with no town anywhere in sight, the three unanimously decided to make the trek to check out the black structure.

They walked the mile to get to the structure and once they reached it, they weren't quite sure what to think.

"What is this thing?" Scorch asked as he put his hand to the building.

It was jet black, had a slight shine to it, and was cold to the touch. There were windows, which were boarded up from the inside, and a single rusted silver door at the front of this small rectangular building.

Clarissa walked to the door and pulled on the handle.

"Hmm. It's locked." She said.

It was a simple doorknob, and looked somewhat out of place for the rest of the building.

"Here, stand back." Scorch said as he handed Clarissa his assault rifle to hold.

He backed up several feet, and slammed his foot into the door, near the knob, aggressively, and busted through the door.

"Damn." Alice said.

"I'm really thankful that worked." Scorch said as he took back his rifle from Clarissa.

The three entered, unsure of what they would find once they crossed the threshold.

"Uh. Just as fucking weird on the inside as it is on the outside." Scorch remarked.

"It's some kind of… bunker, maybe?" Alice said.

Clarissa walked over to a bookcase, and leaned against the wall next to it.

"Why would a building like this even exist? The stuff it's made out of is fuckin' weird, and the inside offers no insight to who was here or what happened." She said.

"I don't know. I, I, I honestly have no fucking clue what this place is, Clarissa." Alice replied.

"Well, it's too dark outside to keep going. So, I guess we're spending the night here. It's shelter. There's limited food stocks, some purified water, surprisingly, and some sleeping bags."

Scorch walked to the door, put his fingertips on it, and closed it softly.

"So, we're staying here tonight."

"That's fine and all, but… what if whoever lives here comes back?" Clarissa asked.

Scorch looked at her, then the ground, thinking about this.

"I got it. Here, come help me." Scorch said as he walked to the bookcase next to Clarissa and started to move it.

The bookcase was heavy, and loud as it skidded across the concrete floor. It had barely anything on it, which made moving it faster, since they didn't need to remove anything.

Within minutes, the three had pushed the bookcase over to the door and blocked it completely.

"Feel safer now?" Scorch asked.

"I guess." Clarissa replied.

Scorch walked over to a wall and set his assault rifle down, propping it up against the wall.

"Alright. Night." He said as he took off his shoes and sat down on a sleeping bag.

He leaned back and exhaled heavily.

"Fuck." He said.

Alice and Clarissa had done the same as Scorch, and soon the three wanderers were fast asleep.

Morning came as fast as the night had left. Beams of light shined through the cracks between the boards on the windows and directly onto Scorch's face. The beam of light forced its way into Scorch's eye, as it woke up within minutes of appearing.

He raised his head slowly and looked around. As he went to stand up, he clutched his ribs. He groaned quietly.

"Note to self: don't sleep on concrete again." He thought.

As Scorch once again stood in the obsidian structure, he looked over to Alice and Clarissa to ensure that they were still there. Sure enough, the two women were both still on the ground, Alice's arm strung across Clarissa's chest, while Clarissa was lying diagonally on the concrete surface.

He shifted his focus around the room. He wanted to go outside, but wasn't sure if he could without waking up his two friends. Scorch walked around, looking for a solution to his conundrum.

He grabbed a vaguely-square shaped piece of cardboard. He walked over to the bookcase, crouched down, lifted it up nearly half an inch, and slid the cardboard underneath.

He set it down directly on the center of the cardboard. He walked to the other side of the bookcase, which was next to the doorknob. He lifted up the bookcase and pivoted with it. He successfully moved it away from the door, without the horrid screeching sound of it dragging across concrete.

He opened the door softly and walked outside, gently shutting it behind him. The air was hot for the morning. It didn't usually get hot until midday, and by then, the heat was sweltering.

He inhaled the warm air through his nose, and exhaled it through his mouth.

"Damn."

Scorch ran his hands through his dark brown hair. The strands flopped down onto his forehead as he sighed. His hands slid down the back of his head until they reached his neck. He shook his head. At that time, Alice was awake. She looked around groggily. She slowly stood up, careful as to not wake Clarissa.

She saw the door was open, and that Scorch was absent from the room and assumed he was outside. She opened the rusty silver door and stepped outside.

"Rough night?" She asked as he looked back suddenly.

"Yeah. You're up early." He responded.

"Hey, you were up earlier than me, man." Alice said, meaning it as a good-natured jab.

He chuckled slightly. "I suppose."

"It's nice in the mornings. Almost like we don't live in a total atomic hell-scape." She said, with a twinge of seriousness in her voice.

"Smoke?" She said as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket.

"No thanks. I'm good today." Scorch replied.

"Suit yourself." Alice said as she pulled a cigarette out and put it in her mouth as she closed the pack and stuffed it back in her pocket.

Scorch stared blankly into the distance.

"Something on your mind?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah. A lot of things on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Just… thinking." Scorch replied.

"Hmm. You gonna… elaborate? Or are you just gonna stay the mysterious stranger?" Alice asked.

"I just… can't… outrun my past. No matter how I hard I try, it finds me. I take up a nomadic life. I change my name. I can escape who I was. My old life. But you can't escape memories."

"Fuck, that's… uh, rough, Scorch."

"Yeah, that doesn't begin to describe it."

"You know I'm here to talk to, right? Clarissa, too." Alice said.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. It just feels like— what's that?"

"What?"

The two Wastelanders saw a hulking black figure moving slowly across the horizon. It wasn't coming near them, thankfully. It was moving East on the horizon.

"Calm-calm down. I, I, I don't think… it's coming over here." Alice said as she put her hand on Scorch's shoulder.

"Let's go back inside." Scorch replied.

"I, uh, I agree."

The two walked back inside and closed the door. Scorch pushed the bookcase back to block the door once again.

Alice went and knelt down next to Clarissa to wake her from her slumber.

"Sweetie… it's time to get up. C'mon, sweetie." Alice said as she rustled Clarissa.

"Hmm… No… Just a little longer."

"Come on, Sweetie. It's time to face the day."

"Ugh… Fine. But I'm only getting up because you're already up." Clarissa said with a groggy smile as she looked at Alice.

Alice replied with a smile and gave Clarissa a gentle kiss on the forehead. Scorch was still busy brooding. However, it was only a front. He was still shaken by the ominous black figure. He couldn't shake the feeling that it was some sort of omen. He was worried it would cross paths with them again. That the next time they met, it wouldn't end well for any of the three of them.

Alice exhaled as she remained crouched next to Clarissa.

"I think it's time we got back in the road."

"Yeah. I'm ready to leave." Scorch agreed as he grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder.

Clarissa stood up as Alice and Scorch gathered their things.

Scorch pushed the bookcase out of the way again as the three left the obsidian structure. As they wandered off to wherever they would end up next, Scorch looked back at the large jet-black building.

He would never know why it existed. And maybe he was fine with that. There were things more important than wondering who created this building.

Written by Cherry Coyote

Characters, Locations and many Ideas are original, but inspiration is drawn from the canon Fallout games.


End file.
